


Éveil

by YumeArashi



Series: The Nocturn Arc [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Homophobia, Hunting, Multi, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:35:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeArashi/pseuds/YumeArashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hunter awakens, and hunter and hunted talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Éveil

         

* * *

 

   His eyelids flutter, and he stirs restlessly in his slow awakening.  I’m relieved; he’s been asleep for quite a long time, and I was starting to get worried.

            Like all humans, his eyes are without comprehension when he wakes, and he looks about the room in confusion.  For this moment, before awareness comes, his eyes are without pain, as they will never be again once he accepts his fate.

            I will always treasure the memory of his innocence.

            It is with regret that I gently call him back.  “Do you remember anything?”  His eyes find me, and there is no recognition yet.  The thought that he may not remember me sends pain through me, sharper than I’d thought myself capable of feeling.  I recall then that humans are very capable of forgetting what they choose to, and I wonder briefly if I‘ve made a mistake.  After all, he could have forgotten, gone back, and simply denied himself for the rest of his life.  I’m just starting to berate myself for taking his chance at a normal life when the pain begins to blossom in his eyes.

            Oh, he remembers, there’s no question of that.

            “I can’t go back, can I?”

            His voice is small and sad, childlike almost, and it breaks my heart to answer him with the cold truth.

            “No, you can’t.”  All the gentleness in my voice can’t take away the cruelty of the words.

            “I won’t ever see my family or my friends again.”

            “No.”  I don’t add that if those mentioned knew about him, they’d kill him.  He already knows it, and reminding him would hardly help. 

            “I won’t be able to go to the tavern with my friends, I won’t be able to see my little brothers and sisters grow up, I won’t be able to listen to the sleeping sounds of the others in the barracks, I won’t be able to sit in the square and just watch people.”

            The full implications are hitting him now, and I reach out and pull him against me.  He buries his face in my shoulder, his tears soaking my shirt, his broken voice still listing all that he’s lost.

            But for all his pain, he doesn’t flinch from reality.  Despite the many ingenious methods humans have of denying the truth, he uses none of them, and a part of me admires his courage even as I attempt to comfort him.

            Eventually, his tears slow.  He wordlessly take the cloth I hand him and cleans his face.  His next words are so quiet that I almost miss them.

            “Thank you.”

            I shrug, uncomfortable with his gratitude.  “You’re welcome.”

            “You know, don’t you?”

            Startled, I look down to meet surprisingly calm blue eyes.  “What do you mean?”

            “You understand, you’ve been there.  You’re as much of an outcast as I am.”

_You are like me._

            I smile faintly.  “I suppose you could say that.  I don’t know that too many of the others would do anything but creatively torture you.”

            He pulls away, sitting up, and studies me with a thoughtful glance.  I remember belatedly that you don’t get to be a Hunter without being more observant than I’m currently comfortable with.  After a moment he sighs, running a hand through his tousled blond hair.  “No, it’s not just that.  There’s something else...”  I must look uncomfortable, because he smiles at me, a little sadly.  “It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me.  You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

            I do want to tell him, but it’s hard.  I’m not in the habit of talking to anyone but myself.  Slowly, the words come.

            “Your people don’t remember that the Hunted were once human, do they?”  His small sound of surprise is answer enough, and I continue without pause.  “A few thousand years ago, the magical energies of this world...hiccupped, for lack of a better term, sending  a massive wave of unrestrained magical energy rippling across the earth.  It was called the Cataclysm, and among the damages it caused were the creation of the Hunted.  At first we were thrilled with the change.  After all, who wouldn’t be ecstatic to have been granted the powers that we have?  But then the hunger awoke.  It took us by surprise, and so the first victims were our once-brothers.

            He winces, already knowing what comes next.  “When that happened, the remaining humans called us monsters and drove us from our homes.  Many of us were killed, since we were still unskilled in the use of our new abilities.  Our towns were razed behind us, our money stolen, our animals killed, our fields burned to ash, our dead left to rot.  We fled deep into the wilderness, declaring war on the humans, turning the pain to hatred, fueling anger with despair.  Thus the world became the way you know it.”

            “But what about you?”  The question is soft, reaffirming without words that I don’t have to answer.

            I shrug, turning away, and my reply is equally quiet.  “I just didn’t want to kill anyone.  I was branded a traitor, and fled before they could they could kill me.”

            “Are they still trying to kill you?”

            I laugh bitterly.  “I seriously doubt that anyone remembers I exist.  That was thousands of years ago, and they had more important things to worry about than one renegade, as long as I wasn’t aiding the humans.  Even if anyone were hunting me, it’s unlikely they’d be able to really hurt me.  The older a Hunted, the more powerful he is, and most of the Hunted who survived the Cataclysm and what followed are gone now.  Some were killed by Hunters, some by other Hunted, and some just chose to die.  I suspect I’m the only one left who actually remembers the Cataclysm.” 

            “Do you miss being human?”  I glance up at the unexpected question.  His expression holds honest curiosity, but it’s almost eclipsed by gentleness, and my throat tightens suddenly.

            “I do.  I..I loved people, loved being a part of their lives, loved the smiles and laughter...”  My voice breaks, and tears that have been thousands of years in coming are running down my cheeks.  In all this time, I have never allowed myself the luxury of tears, have never been able to afford it.  But now his strong arms are around me, solid and reassuring, and for the first time, there’s someone to hear my pain.  Our situation of an hour ago is mirrored as I release centuries of held-back anguish in the arms of a man whose name I don’t even know.  I understand now his desperate wish to know mine, last night. 

            The storm of tears passes, and I stir in his arms, a little embarrassed at my display of emotion.  “I’m sorry.”

            He brushes away the last traces of my tears, smiling at me.  “It’s okay.  You’ve been lonely for a long time.  It’s only natural.”

            I shrug.  “It doesn’t matter.”

            His arms tighten around me, almost protectively, and he contradicts me fiercely.  “It does matter!  You have feelings, just like anyone else.  It’s not right that you should be hurt, that you should have to suffer alone.”  I curl a little closer, deeply touched by his words, by his caring.  He strokes my hair tenderly, as if I were a child, and it’s almost enough to bring the tears back to my eyes.

            “It’s all right.  You won’t be alone anymore.  You’ll have me.  I won’t ever leave you.”

            I shake my head, sighing.  “You can’t say that.”

            “Yes, I can.”  His voice is very serious, and I look up.  His face is more mature than it was twenty-four hours ago, and he clearly means every word.  “If I can’t find a way to live forever, then I’ll stay with you after death.  If I have to, I’ll be reborn and find you again.  I swear by all that I am, I will never leave you.”

            He leans over to press a gentle kiss to my lips, and an emotion long dead takes wing in my heart.

            Joy.

**Author's Note:**

> Third and final piece in the Nocturn Arc


End file.
